Sarah Brealey of the U.K.'s Norfolk Eastern Daily Press has issued the following report:

When Chris Hardman auditioned for [Gene Simmons' reality TV show] "Rock School", his mum Karen told him: "You can't sing, you can't play guitar, what are you going to do?"

The 15-year-old's guitar was a cheap instrument bought over the internet and he had never had a lesson.

But on prime-time television last night he dazzled 20,000 heavy metal fans - and many more viewers — with a performance described as spectacular.

It was a triumph for all 12 youngsters from Kirkley High School in Lowestoft, even the ones who were not picked for the final onstage line-up.

Yesterday, Chris told the EDP it was only at the last minute that he realised he was to perform in front of 20,000 people in Los Angeles, warming up for the legendary JUDAS PRIEST and ANTHRAX. Although the show was recorded in October, the question of whether Chris or alternative singer Ellie Chapman got picked had been kept under wraps until last night.

Chris said: "I didn't know until the last 10 minutes whether I was going to be in the band. They got both me and Ellie in our costumes and I wasn't that nervous because I thought Ellie was going to be picked instead of me."

Read the rest of the article at this location.